Hardscratch Press is named for an
early-1900s family codfishing station on Unga Island in the
Shumagins, easternmost group in the Aleutian Islands. The first
author we published was Ralph Soberg, who wrote about his life on
the island, about his roots in Norway, about his brief career as a
bootlegger and his lifelong passion, building bridges and roads for
the Alaska Road Commission ... and who was the publisher's dear
stepfather. "We" refers to editor-publisher-sometimes writer Jackie
Pels and designer David R. Johnson, whose work has won awards and
applause since Ralph Soberg's first book in 1990.

“... Hardscratch Press of
Walnut Creek, a small publishing house known for its fine-crafted
books ...”―
The Independent (Livermore, Calif.)

Coming mid-March
2015, celebrating our 25th anniversary:

"As native son Manuel
Gonzales shows in this excellent and evenhanded history," Gerald
Haslam writes in the Foreword to Mendota: Life and Times of an
Emerging Latino Community, 1891-2012, "the Great Valley remains
one of California's economic engines and one of its tragedies."
Historian Lea Ybarra, author of Vietnam Veteranos: Chicanos
Recall the War and other works, notes "the extensive interviews
of Latinos in the book. ... Kudos to Dr. Gonzales for giving them a
voice, and weaving their stories into the fabric of America." Jim
Story, another native son now a member of the Columbia University
history faculty, says, "Mendota not only plumbs the depths of
many individual lives—those
who flourished and those who didn't—but
sets them in the context of the surrounding agricultural community.
... I am grateful to Professor Gonzales for his meticulous research,
cogent analysis and storytelling skills."

There's a
Freedom Here: My 100 years in Alaska,by Patricia Ray Williams, whose memoir is also a
lively history of the town of Seward, on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

Her mother first visited Resurrection Bay in 1901, two years before
the town was founded; her father established his law practice there
in 1906, and their daughter was brought home to Seward as an infant,
in 1910. Her stories, accompanied by dozens of photos and
illustrations from early newspapers, are by turns poignant and
earthy, always well told.

It's a great honor for Hardscratch Press
to have been chosen to shepherd this book.

In
third printing: Sideways Rain,an
itinerant Alaskan doctor's memoir of 20 years of travel in the
stormy Aleutian and Pribilof islands. Besides her work as a
dedicated and resourceful medical practitioner, Nancy Elliott Sydnam,
M.D., is a pilot and a poet, a hunter and gatherer, and an
empathetic observer of human nature. In journal entries, letters and
poems she writes with deep affection about the landscape, both bleak
and beautiful, and the people she encountered on her hazardous
routes—often with her cello or her Labrador retriever, first Tigger,
then Vita, along for the ride. Included are photos and other
illustrations as well as a map of the islands and an index of names.
ISBN: 978-0-9838628-2-6.

To order, you may
contact the author at
nancysydnam@alaska.net or the publisher at jrbpels@hardscratchpress.com. Books will be sent with an
invoice for the cover price of $20 per book plus postage. Standard
bookstore discounts apply, as well as a courtesy discount for
libraries.

(Another feather in
designer David Johnson's cap: Sideways Rain's award at the
43rd annual book show of Publishing Professionals Network [formerly
Bookbuilders West].).

^ ^ ^

We celebrated our
20th anniversary in 2010 with two new books plus three awards from the Bay Area
Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) and one from Bookbuilders
West: "Best Cultural History," for The
Life Story of Henry Ramsey Jr.;
"Best Regional History," for Family After All: Alaska's
Jesse Lee Home;
"Best Memoir," for Autumn Loneliness: The
Letters of Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi
(all
from BAIPA); plus
"Recognition of Merit," for Vasco's Livermore 1910 (Bookbuilders West). Book
details below.

And as if that weren't heady
enough, 2011 brought two new honors: BAIPA's "Best Local
History" for Vasco's
Livermore 1910, and
"Best Migration Memoir" for
Homesteaders in the
Headlights.

Homesteaders in the Headlights:
One family's journey from a Depression-era
New Jersey farm to a new life in Wasilla, Alaska,
by George Harbeson Jr. (ISBN: 978-0-9789979-8-4, 6x9, 312 pages,
many photos, index of names, 2nd printing, $18).
"Best Migration Memoir,"
2011 BAIPA award.

"George Harbeson's
life—cut short at age 64—is the perfect illustration of how one
person can make a difference in the life of a community.
Congratulations to George Jr. for writing this meaningful tribute to
both his parents." —From the Introduction by noted Alaskan Katie Hurley.

Vasco's Livermore, 1910: Portraits from the Hub Saloon,
by Anne Marshall Homan
and Richard W. Finn,
is a collection of
100-year-old portraits by Australian
caricaturist Vasco Loureiro, with stories
about each of the early
Livermore residents pictured (ISBN: 978-9789979-7-7, $24).
"Spotlights
on community members ranging from an oil man to the ice man," says
Linda L. Ivey,
asst. professor of history at Cal State East
Bay. And Sam Viviano, art
director of MAD Magazine, writes, "Loureiro manages to make each figure
individual and unique,
which is no small feat." Winner of Bookbuilders West 2010
"Recognition of Merit" award; named BAIPA's 2011 "Best
Local History."

All of Anne Marshall
Homan's books, including the two earlier volumes detailed below, can be ordered direct
from the author at 925/443-9440 or
annemarshall_2000@yahoo.com.

THE 2010 BAIPA AWARD-WINNERS ...

The
Life Story of Henry Ramsey Jr.,
of Rocky Mount,
N.C., and Berkeley, Calif., is 6x9 inches, 600 pages, soft-cover,
with many photos and a full index; $25.
ISBN: 978-0-9789979-3-9. BAIPA's 2010 "Best Cultural History."

Henry Ramsey's "frank and eloquent account of the journey from Jim Crow childhood to
a life of activism, public service, and high achievement will be
familiar to some, a revelation to others. The challenge he issues is
for all: Never forget our past. Never stop
working for our future. Always cherish our children.” —Benjamin
Todd Jealous,
president and CEO, NAACP.

"A
story of healings, border crossings, cultural cross-breeding ... in the form of letters that are an intimate and moving
portrait of a marriage, as absorbing and delicate as a Japanese
novel or a film by Ozu.” —Robert Hass,
U.S. poet laureate, 1995-1997.

Family After All: Alaska's
Jesse Lee Home has
been honored with the Alaska Historical Society's "Contributions to
Alaska History" award in addition to BAIPA's 2010 "Best
Regional History" recognition. Volume II of Family After All was also nominated for the Alaska Library
Association's “Alaskana Award.” Click on images or see CATALOG for ISBNs and other details.

The Qutekcak Native Tribe
of Seward calls Family After All“a testament to the survival and persistence
of today’s Alaska Native elders. [It] has brought history to life for our children. …”

NOTE: The Puyallup Tribe of
Washington state hopes to hear from people, including Alaskans, with
experiences in boarding schools and other vital history for tribal
archives. Details at www.puyalluptribalnews.net/article/732,
or call Amber Santiago at 253/573-7965.

^ ^ ^

About Anne Marshall Homan's earlier books:Historic Livermore,
California: A-Z,
already in second printing, is a generously illustrated and
impressively researched encyclopedia of facts, photos and artifacts.
"What a pioneering and useful work of scholarship she has
produced!” says Kevin Starr, professor of history at the University
of Southern California. In 2008, the Bay Area Independent Publishers
Association chose
Historic Livermore A-Z
as “Overall Best
Book” (a tie)
plus “Best Interior”
− well-deserved honors for the author and for designer David
Johnson.

Anne Homan's The Morning Side of Mount Diablo:
An illustrated history of the San Francisco Bay Area's Morgan
Territory Road
is also in second printing. Morning Side
is $28.50, 256 pages, ISBN: 0-9678989-2-7; Historic Livermore
is $34.95, 584 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9789979-8-9; both are 8x9 inches,
with full indexes. Queries may be directed to the author at
925/443-9440 or
annemarshall_2000@yahoo.com.

^ ^ ^

This is not to forget two
remarkable nonagenarians (see CATALOG for cover images, ISBNs, and
other details):

Any Tonnage, Any Ocean: Conversations with a resolute Alaskan:Walter Jackinsky Jr. of Ninilchik, Alaska, signed on at age 47 as an
ordinary seaman for the 1963 launch of the M/V Malaspina,
first of Alaska's famed marine highway ferries. Thirty-four years
later he retired as senior captain and honorary commodore of the
entire fleet.Any Tonnage, Any Ocean,
named "Best Memoir" in 2008 by the Bay Area Independent Publishers
Association, melds Alaska Native
history and family drama, zest for travel and deep roots in the home
place.

In
Fin, Fur & Fiber: The life and [fishing] times of a New England textile man,antiques and art dealer Nelson F. Getchell tells his part of “a
broad stretch of history” with extraordinary recall and dry,
sometimes mordant New England wit, offset by the loving homage paid
his parents and grandparents. “My father saw the last days of
sailing ships; I am experiencing the last days of the American
textile industry,” he notes with regret.

"Each of the memoirs published since Hardscratch's
founding
in 1990 is handsome and meticulous in detail, illustrated with
carefully chosen photographs and hand-drawn maps. ... They ask
to be
picked up and leafed through."– Contra Costa Times

MEET THE AUTHOR!
Manuel Gonzales will be at the Mendota Library, 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April
25, to read from and sign copies of Mendota: Life and Times of an
Emerging Latino Community,
1891-2012.25% of all book sales will go to the Library fund.

The Farmers Market Lover's Calendar for 2015 features David Johnson's fine
watercolors and Lesley Stiles' sensuous recipes, as tantalizing as ever. To
order, or for more information:

David Johnson, 510/326-0232

or
lesleystilesfoods.com.

^^^

Hardscratch Press was pleased to participate in the 200th
anniversary of the Russian presence at Port Rumiantsev (Bodega Bay) and Fort
Ross on the northern California coast. In Sitka, where the story began,
Jackie Pels presented some of the associated history at the 2012 conference of the
Alaska Historical Society. And in 2013 she reprised that history for
members of The Institute for Historical Study, convening in Oakland.